South America hosts nearly half of 9,000 tree species unknown to science

[UngulateNerd92]

• The most comprehensive survey of Earth’s tree life has just been published, showing that there are some 9,000 species that scientists still haven’t described.
• Nearly half of these unknown trees are found in South America, which in turn accounts for 43% of the estimated 73,000 trees found on Earth, according to the study.
• Almost 150 researchers from across the globe collaborated on the study, which increases the previous estimate for total tree species by 14%.
• The study authors say the unidentified species are mostly rare and more vulnerable to the risk of extinction, hence there’s an urgent need to implement stricter protection and enforcement of environmental laws.

“Since I was a kid, I have always been fascinated by the diversity of living beings on our planet and I dreamed to work to explore Earth’s unexplored places and discover the unknown species living on our planet,” says Roberto Cazzolla Gatti. “Then, as a biologist, during the last years, I dedicated much work to the open questions of biodiversity and one of them is how to estimate it with the smallest error and how to protect them.”

With this goal in mind, Cazzolla Gatti, from the University of Bologna in Italy, led a study that culminated in the most comprehensive global georeferenced survey of trees ever done.

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